2014
Astronomy’s fifth annual
STAR PRODUCTS
by Phil Harrington
O
nce again, our equipment guru
combed the marketplace to find the
most useful and most ingenious products for the fifth incarnation of Astronomy’s
Star Products. The 35 items here, presented
in alphabetical order by manufacturer, run
the gamut. Some are perfect for visual
observing, while others will help you excel
at astroimaging. There’s something for
everyone — beginner to advanced amateur — and in a wide price range.
WITHOUT BORDERS
3 ASTRONOMERS
OneSky tabletop Newtonian
Have you ever been asked to recommend a good starter telescope for a child? I have. Astronomers Without Borders’
OneSky 5.1-inch f/5 tabletop Newtonian is one of the best sold
today. No bells, whistles, or electronics. Just good optics in an
easy-to-setup, user-friendly package. Place the telescope on a
picnic table, extend the collapsible tube, and the one-armed,
alt-azimuth-mounted instrument is ready to explore the sky.
Eyepiece design is one of the most fluid aspects of amateur astronomy. And while many come and go,
one that has stood the test of time is the Abbe orthoscopic. Recently, Astro Hutech introduced a line of
these eyepieces in eight focal lengths from 4mm to 25mm. Eye relief and apparent field of view may not
be as great as some modern designs, but image sharpness is second to none. That’s why orthoscopic eyepieces continue to be a favorite for lunar and planetary study.
A ST R O N O M Y • S E P©T E2014
MB ER
2014 Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any
Kalmbach
form without permission from the publisher. www.Astronomy.com
Ritchey-Chrétien (RC)
Cassegrain reflectors rank
among the finest instruments in their respective
aperture classes. Perhaps the
most important benefit of the
RC design is its total freedom from
image distortions, making these
scopes an astrophotographer’s favorite.
But that advantage has always come at an
astronomical price — until now. Astro-Tech’s 12-inch f/8 trusstube RC instrument offers many advanced features, such as
carbon-fiber construction and a quartz mirror with enhanced
coatings, at an unprecedented low price.
Each issue of Astronomy
features the best equipment that money can
buy. But for hard-core
equipment junkies,
there is Astronomy
Technology Today. Each
bimonthly issue is singularly devoted to profiling the current state
of the astronomical
marketplace by surveying new equipment as
well as product evaluations written by owners.
HUTECH
2 ASTRO
Flat-top Orthoscopic Eyepieces
74
optical tube
TECHNOLOGY TODAY
5 ASTRONOMY
Astronomy Technology Today
IMAGING SYSTEMS
1 APOGEE
Aspen CG16M CCD camera
With improved baffling to minimize
internal reflections, a durable
shutter, and advanced cooling to
reduce image-distorting electronic noise, Apogee’s line of
Aspen imagers are ideal for serious astrophotographers. The
Aspen CG16M contains the
Kodak KAF-16803 full-frame CCD
chip. The Aspen line has other models with a variety of monochromatic and color CCD chips.
All come standard with two interfaces: a network interface with
a built-in Web server and 1-to-16 MHz 16-bit digitization.
4 ASTRO-TECH
12-inch truss-tube Ritchey-Chrétien
INSTRUMENTS
7 AVALON
M-Zero Fast Reverse single-arm
mount
Made from anodized aluminum
with stainless steel hardware, the
versatile M-Zero mount is an
accessory you can set up in equatorial or alt-azimuth mode. It’s light
enough for easy transport, yet
sturdy enough to allow guided
photography through telescopes
with apertures as large as 8 inches.
In equatorial mode, the M-Zero
doesn’t require a meridian flip, so
you can use a relatively long optical
tube. In alt-azimuth mode, it is
perfect for both telescopes and
binoculars or to acquire automatic time-lapse sequences. Avalon’s Bluetooth-enabled StarGo go-to system controls the
M-Zero mount.
PLANETARIUM
8 BAADER
Q-Turret
No single eyepiece works for viewing everything. But sometimes switching eyepieces causes a telescope’s aim to shift and a
faint object to be lost. The Q-Turret makes changing eyepieces
easy because you don’t remove them. Instead, after inserting
four 1¼" eyepieces of your choice in the turret, you simply dial
between them. Although Baader makes the unit out of plastic,
the quality construction ensures years of service while keeping
weight to a minimum.
6 ASTROZAP
Light Shrouds for Sky-Watcher Dobs
Open-tubed Newtonian
reflectors are becoming
more and more popular
these days, and for good
reasons. Not only does
the design cut down on
weight, but it also helps
optics cool more
quickly than solid-tube
models. Still, light
entering the optical
path from the side can
damage image contrast.
To solve the problem, Astrozap sells a line of custom-fit cloth
shrouds for 8- to 16-inch Sky-Watcher Dobsonian telescopes
that prevent stray light from washing out the view.
Phil Harrington is an Astronomy contributing editor and author of
Cosmic Challenge: The Ultimate Observing List for Amateurs (Cambridge
University Press, 2010).
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PLANETARIUM
9 BAADER
Steeltrack Crayford focusers
Often, the stock focusers that
come with low-price telescopes
leave something to be desired.
Baader solves the problem with a
line of Steeltrack Crayford-style
focusers, available for telescopes as
small as 2 inches. These focusers
use internal ball bearings riding
on hardened stainless steel inside
an aluminum base for smooth
operation. Both coarse and fine
adjustments are standard on all
models.
10
CELESTRON
COSMOS 90GT WiFi Telescope
The COSMOS
90GT 90mm
f/10 refractor
is the first
WiFi-enabled telescope for amateur astronomers. Rather than use a hand
controller, the COSMOS 90GT’s
go-to function operates from
your smartphone or tablet.
The 3.5-inch telescope uses
Celestron’s free Navigator
planetarium app. The link
will work everywhere,
even without WiFi or a
cell signal.
11
CELESTRON
Skyris CCD imagers
Designed with Germany’s The Imaging Source, Celestron’s line
of Skyris solar/lunar/planetary video imagers combine popular
CMOS and CCD chips used for planetary imaging with superfast USB 3.0 connections for
rates up to 120
full-resolution
frames per
second. The
Skyris lineup
includes three
models, each
available as a
monochrome
or one-shot
color system.
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A ST R O N O M Y • S E P T E MB ER 2014
12 CELESTRON
Off-Axis Guider
GLATTER
15 HOWIE
Parallizer
18 MALLINCAM
MallinCam Jr PRO
An off-axis guider is an
accessory imagers use with
long-focal-length telescopes
because such instruments require the most
accurate guiding.
Celestron’s OffAxis Guider
uses an adjustable, multicoated
12.5-millimeter
prism that allows
you to locate a guide star. The 48mm clear aperture supports
full-frame cameras without vignetting. The guider comes with
a fixed-orientation helical focuser and includes all needed
spacers and adapters for most imaging configurations.
Many observers view through 1¼"
eyepieces in 2" focusers by using a
step-down adapter. But unless
machining tolerances are strictly
followed, the unit can sit badly in
the focuser, and that will affect
image quality. Howie Glatter’s Parallizer step-down adapter
prevents this by maintaining three equally distributed points of
contact on the inside of the focuser’s drawtube as well as on the
eyepiece’s barrel, keeping everything square.
From Procom Electronics in Ottawa, Canada, comes this addition to the MallinCam line of video cameras. The MallinCam Jr
PRO is similar to the company’s more expensive Mallincam
Xtreme, but without some of the fancier features. Junior’s standard CCD chip, the Sony ICX418AKL, is the same, while a more
sensitive EXview HAD chip is also available. You can order
either as color or monochrome. Both feature exposures you can
set to last anywhere from 1/12,000 second to 99 hours.
13 DENKMEIER
Solar observing Optical Correctors
Observing the Sun in
Hydrogen-alpha (Hα)
light is always exciting. And viewing it
with two eyes adds a
dimension that oneeyed sungazing
never achieves.
Unfortunately, most
Hα telescopes don’t
have the added focusing
distance needed by binoviewers. To fix this, Denkmeier now offers Optical Correctors that
let their binoviewers focus through all popular Hα solar
scopes. Prepare to be astonished.
SCIENTIFIC
14 EXPLORE
152mm Achromatic Refractor
Explore Scientific built the largest member of its AR Doublet
Series of achromatic refractors around an air-spaced, crownand-flint, doublet objective lens, just like its 102mm and
127mm models. At f/6.5, this 6-inch scope shows some color
fringing around bright objects, even with the fully multicoated
optics. But given the high-end aluminum and stainless steel
construction, as well as the price, which is a fraction of a similar
apochromatic refractor, it’s easy to forgive that flaw.
OPTICAL
16 ISTAR
Phoenix WFT 204–6
From Czech telescope maker Istar Optical comes three refractors billed as “comet hunters.” That’s just one enticing aspect of
these scopes. The largest, the 8-inch f/5.9 Phoenix WFT 204–6, offers wide fields of view
that are ideal for studying expansive star
clusters, glowing nebulae, and, yes,
comets. Fully multicoated optics
promise images with fine contrast that also are sharp
thanks to an oversized
rotatable focuser.
17 LOSMANDY
StarLapse
You’ve probably seen online videos showing time-lapse views of
the sky rotating above a striking terrestrial foreground. How do
the videographers record such scenes? They use a tracking platform like the StarLapse from Losmandy. Based on the same
right ascension drive system as the company’s GM-8 equatorial
mount, Losmandy’s StarLapse tracks
the sky at both sidereal and solar rates,
and pans the camera at nine different
speeds up to 240° per hour for the
duration of the exposure.
19 MYCASEBUILDER
Custom cases
It’s important to keep our precious eyepieces and accessories safe
between observing sessions. MyCaseBuilder offers a variety of
custom-made plastic and metal foam-lined cases that are perfect
for the task. Their online designer lets you select cutout shapes
based on the eyepieces and other products that you own. Move
each shape around until the layout is just as you want it, and with
the click of your mouse, your custom-cut case is ready to order.
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MOON TELESCOPES
20 NEW
12.5-inch f/5 Dobsonian
25 PIER-TECH
PT2 adjustable pier
A comparative new kid on the
block, New Moon Telescopes
includes some novel design
features not seen in other similar truss-tube scopes. My
favorite innovation is how the
eight truss tubes come preassembled. Then you can
assemble and set the secondary cage and truss tubes on the
mirror box as a single unit.
This way, you don’t have to
climb up a ladder in the dark
to place the secondary cage on
top of the poles.
Pier-Tech adjustable telescope piers make climbing
a ladder to look through an
eyepiece a thing of the
past. With the push of a
button, you can move an
equatorially mounted telescope up and down a full
20 inches (51 centimeters),
bringing the eyepiece to
you, whether seated or
standing. The company’s
smallest adjustable pier,
the Pier-Tech 2, can carry a
telescope weighing up to
215 pounds (98 kilograms).
The larger Pier-Tech 3 can
hold up to 1,100 pounds
(500kg), while the PierTech 4 can handle as much
as 1,600 pounds (725kg).
TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS
23 ORION
Dob Pod
21
OLIVON
1.25" 5-Piece Filter Wheel with
5 Filters
Using filters can greatly enhance objects. But swapping filters in
the dark, especially while wearing gloves, can be tedious at best.
Olivon’s all-metal 5-Piece Filter Wheel allows the observer to
switch easily between up to five different filters — which Olivon
provides — simply by rotating them in and out of the optical
path. It’s perfect for planetary and lunar observation with color
filters or deep-sky viewing with light pollution filters.
22
OPTEC
FocusLynx Focuser Hub
Advanced astrophotographers appreciate the precise focusing control
offered by the FocusLynx
Focuser Hub. With this
product in place, you can
adjust up to two Optec or
Starlight focusers simultaneously and independently via a computer,
smartphone, or optional
hand controller.
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A ST R O N O M Y • S E P T E MB ER 2014
One of the most common complaints about 10-inch and smaller
Dobsonian telescopes is the low height of the eyepiece, especially when aimed toward the horizon. Orion’s solution to this
dilemma is called the Dob Pod. Made of melamine-coated particle board, the Dob Pod has slots that match the locations of
the small feet underneath the Orion telescope’s base. Place the
base of any compatible Dobsonian reflector onto the Dob Pod,
and the unit will raise the entire telescope a foot (30 centimeters) higher off the ground.
TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS
24 ORION
Dob Dolly
Now that the eyepiece is at a more comfortable height, how
about some help moving your Dobsonian reflector around?
Orion designed its Dob Dolly to match the Dob Pod and made
it compatible with many Dobsonians up to 10 inches in aperture. Three casters underneath the triangular unit let you roll
your assembled telescope on pavement and other smooth surfaces. Once in position, raise the Dob Dolly off the ground with
the three threaded levelers, and you are ready to observe.
26 PROTOSTAR
Tube liners
Metal-tubed reflectors are convenient to set up because they usually
hold collimation well. But unless
the inside of the tube is coated flat
black, internal reflections can spoil
the view. Protostar tube liners
eliminate the reflections. By sliding the liner into the tube, the
textured black surface ensures complete suppression of stray
light. The liner also insulates the tube from the optical path,
creating an air gap between the two to improve image stability.
USA
27 SKY-WATCHER
Esprit ED Triplet APO Refractors
All four Esprit APO refractors, from the 80mm f/5 to the 150mm
f/7, feature objective lenses with three elements — including one
of O’Hara FPL-53 glass — for superior false-color suppression.
Each Esprit also comes nicely equipped with a thread-on doublet
field flattener for photography, an oversized focuser with microfocus, a 2" dielectrically coated star diagonal, an
8x50 right-angle finder scope, and an aluminum carrying case.
BISQUE
28 SOFTWARE
Paramount ME II Robotic
Telescope Mount
Software Bisque took its
already successful Paramount ME German
equatorial mount and
made it even better. The
ME II features a more
robust frame that can
carry up to 240 pounds
(110 kilograms) while
only weighing 84 pounds
(38kg) itself. Massive 8-inch right ascension and declination
bearings coupled to belt-driven gears promise spot-on tracking
accuracy. Equipment cables run through the mount for a clean
appearance, while a pair of USB ports on the control panel
makes it easy to connect to a computer or guiding accessories.
BISQUE
29 SOFTWARE
TheSKY HD
TheSKY was one of the first
personal planetarium software
packages sold, and it just keeps
getting better. Now, more than
three decades later, you can
download the latest incarnation, TheSKY HD, onto your iPad. With it, you can identify
constellations, stars, planets, and thousands of other celestial
objects, including satellites, comets, asteroids, and even Iridium
flares, from your observing site.
30 STELLARVUE
SVQ 100 Quad Astrograph
Looking for a super-portable refractor that is perfect for astrophotography as well as for visual observing? The Stellarvue
SVQ 100 should be on your short list. The SVQ 100 measures
only 19.25 inches (48.9 centimeters) long with dew shield
retracted and weighs just 10.8 pounds (4.9 kilograms). But it
packs a punch thanks to its four-element 100mm f/5.8 apochromatic objective. Making a good thing even better, the telescope
also comes standard with a 3" Feather Touch focuser.
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TELESCOPES
31 TEETER’S
TT/Sub4 22-inch Dob
Astronomy’s Star Products
2014
#
COMPANY
PRODUCT
PRICE
WEBSITE
1
Apogee Imaging Systems
Aspen CG16M CCD camera
$11,875
www.ccd.com
2
Astro Hutech
Flat-top Orthoscopic Eyepieces
$99 to $119
www.hutech.com
3
Astronomers Without Borders
OneSky tabletop Newtonian
$199.99
http://store.
astronomerswithoutborders.org
4
Astro-Tech
12-inch truss-tube Ritchey-Chrétien
optical tube
$4,495
www.astronomytechnologies.
com
5
Astronomy Technology Today
Astronomy Technology Today
$18 print;
$10 digital
www.
astronomytechnologytoday.com
6
Astrozap
Light Shrouds for Sky-Watcher Dobs
$69 to $109
www.astrozap.com
7
Avalon Instruments
M-Zero Fast-Reverse single-arm mount
$4,800
www.avalon-instruments.com
8
Baader Planetarium
Q-Turret
$85
www.alpineastro.com
9
Baader Planetarium
Steeltrack Crayford focusers
$294 to $467
www.alpineastro.com
10
Celestron
COSMOS 90GT WiFi Telescope
$399.95
www.celestron.com
11
Celestron
Skyris CCD imagers
$449.95 to $899.95 www.celestron.com
12
Celestron
Off-Axis Guider
$249.95
www.celestron.com
13
Denkmeier
Solar observing Optical Correctors
$199 to $299
www.denkmeier.com
14
Explore Scientific
152mm Achromatic Refractor
$849.99
www.explorescientific.com
15
Howie Glatter
Parallizer
$45
www.collimator.com
16
Istar Optical
Phoenix WFT 204-6
$3,499
www.istar-optical.com
17
Losmandy
StarLapse
$575
www.losmandy.com
18
MallinCam
MallinCam Jr PRO
$599.99
www.mallincam.net
19
MyCaseBuilder
Custom cases
$20 to $1,238
www.mycasebuilder.com
20
New Moon Telescopes
12.5-inch f/5 Dobsonian
$3,898
www.newmoontelescopes.com
21
Olivon
1.25" 5-Piece Filter Wheel with 5 Filters
$99
www.olivonusa.com
22
Optec
FocusLynx Focuser Hub
$295
www.optecinc.com
23
Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
Dob Pod
$129.99
www.telescope.com
24
Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
Dob Dolly
$129.99
www.telescope.com
25
Pier-Tech
PT2 adjustable pier
$2,500
www.pier-tech.com
26
Protostar
Tube liners
$48 to $64
www.fpi-protostar.com
27
Sky-Watcher USA
Esprit ED Triplet APO Refractors
$1,649 to $6,399
www.skywatcherusa.com
28
Software Bisque
Paramount ME II Robotic Telescope
Mount
$15,000
www.bisque.com
29
Software Bisque
TheSky HD
$29.99
www.bisque.com
30
Stellarvue
SVQ 100 Quad Astrograph
$3,800
www.stellarvue.com
31
Teeter’s Telescopes
TT/Sub4 22-inch Dob
$11,250
www.teeterstelescopes.com
32
Vixen Optics
R130Sf Newtonian Reflector with Porta II $399
Mount
www.vixenoptics.com
33
Vixen Optics
SLV Series Eyepieces
$169
www.vixenoptics.com
34
Walt’s Observing Chairs
Observing chairs
$185 to $225
www.waltsobservingchairs.com
35
West Virginia University Press
21st Century Atlas of the Moon
$29.99
www.wvupressonline.com
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A ST R O N O M Y • S E P T E MB ER 2014
OBSERVING CHAIRS
34 WALT’S
Observing chairs
If you have true aperture fever but prefer
to keep your feet on
the ground rather
than scale the heights
to the eyepiece, Teeter’s Telescopes may
be your salvation.
The company’s line
of Sub4 reflectors,
each with focal ratios
less than f/4, do just
that. Its latest and
largest addition, the
22-inch f/3.3, puts a
monstrous primary
mirror into a telescope that stands less than 70 inches (178 centimeters) off the
ground. And as with all Teeter’s scopes, craftsmanship and
standard equipment combine to make it one of the best on the
market today.
32 VIXEN
R130Sf Newtonian Reflector with
Porta II Mount
Vixen’s R130Sf 5-inch Newtonian
telescope is a great medium-aperture
instrument in a portable package.
The Porta II Mount is a high-quality
alt-azimuth unit whose mount
damps vibrations from bumps, wind,
and even focusing better than many other
similar telescope mounts. In addition to
the optical tube and the mount, Vixen
includes a 6x30 finder scope, a 1¼"
adapter, 6.3mm and 20mm eyepieces,
tube rings, and a dovetail plate.
33
VIXEN
SLV Series Eyepieces
This line continues the company’s tradition that began with its
Lanthanum LV eyepieces a decade ago, while taking them to the
next level. All 11 eyepieces in the SLV series, which range in
focal length from 2.5mm to 25mm (plus a zoom), offer a comfortably long 20mm of eye relief, twist-up eyecups, and flat spots
around the housing’s
circumference to
keep the eyepieces
from rolling away in
the dark. Best of all,
each has fully multicoated Lanthanum
glass for sharp, highcontrast views.
Observing chairs help relieve the stress and strain associated
with hours of concentrated effort at the telescope. But to be
effective, they need to be widely adjustable in height. Walt’s
Observing Chairs are just that. Made of wood, each has a comfortable seat and an adjustable footrest. The height ranges from
nearly ground level to about 40 inches (1 meter) above the
ground. A shorter version, sans footrest, is also available.
VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
35 WEST
21st Century Atlas of the Moon
As light pollution swallows up
more of our night sky, many
deep-sky observers are turning their telescopes toward the
Moon for in-depth study. This
high-resolution visual guide,
created by lunar scientist
Charles Wood and amateur
astronomer Maurice Collins,
is the perfect companion for
anyone wanting to get more
out of our nearest space neighbor. Images from NASA’s
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show the Moon’s Earth-facing
side in exquisite detail, and you also will find maps showing
details along the limb as well as on the farside. These make this
book as visually interesting to enjoy inside as our nearest celestial neighbor is through the eyepiece.
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